The poor man’s DTH — direct to home TV sponsored by the Government of India at a price not likely to pinch — is not going anywhere. Announced last year with much fanfare, the Rs 500 crore-project was supposed to kick off in six month’s time of its announcement in June last year.While that is unlikely, private channels are not inclined to join the Government’s DTH platform. The Government had worked out a formula whereby Doordarshan would have 17 channels (including IGNOU’s channels) and private satellite channels would chip in with 13 channels.Tentatively dubbed DD-Direct Plus, the project was started to counter criticism against another abortive plan of the Government — the Conditional Access System. Clutching at straws, the Prasar Bharati Corporation is even willing to drop the carriage fee — nearly Rs 13 crore — for other channels in a desperate bid to attract them, much to the annoyance of its parent, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. Now, with the waiver, DD was hoping that some private channels would join.DTH was supposed to offer its channels for free — with the subscriber paying only for a dish antenna to be made available for Rs 4,000. Unlike private players with more content on their platform, and with a price tag of Rs 6,000, in addition to the monthly bill of Rs 500, DTH was meant to double up as a fair price shop, reaching subscribers who don’t have access to cable. The idea was to offer a fare to those people who were denied television on account of inhabiting hilly terrains.Now, what DD has to offer is Eklavya and Vyasa from IGNOU, a clutch of DD channels and all religious free-to-air channels on its DTH platform.While 10,000 boxes (dish antenna in addition to set-top boxes) have arrived, a decision has yet to be taken to put them in homes that can receive DD programmes. Don’t be surprised if the boxes don’t reach the North-East — the primary audience.
